


Camaraderie

by sleep_incarnate



Category: Fire Emblem Echoes: Mou Hitori no Eiyuu Ou | Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia, Fire Emblem Series
Genre: F/M, Minor Injuries, Serious Injuries, Slow Romance, probably more to come - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-07
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-04-19 13:14:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,584
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14238072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sleep_incarnate/pseuds/sleep_incarnate
Summary: A small ambush leads to Gray and Clair on their own behind enemy lines. Now with only each other, they must work together to stay alive as brutal Rigelian troops surround them.





	1. The Best Laid Plans

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to what will probably be (at this time) my most ambitious project yet! No clue how long this whole thing'll be, but it'll probably get long-ish! Hopefully anyone reading this will enjoy my story, and as always I gladly accept critique!

Magic and arrows flew past Gray as he sprinted across the field towards cover. Ambushed. Alm had warned the army of the threat of such events once they crossed the border into Rigel, but Gray had brushed it off as Alm just being a worry wart. With his armor full of new holes and stained with soot from fire, however, the wry villager had to admit how right Alm was as he dodged an oncoming volley of arrows, quickly rolling behind a small haven of trees.

“Stupid….witches….” He huffed as he leaned onto the small trunk. He was no slouch when it came to their magic, but why’d they have to focus on him? Gray peeked his head around the tree, scanning for an opening to reach the main group again. In the distance he spied Tobin and Kliff dealing with a small crowd of Rigelian cavalry, though the latter’s magic seemed to hold them off well enough. The trio of witches that had kept him pinned had lost sight of him, though it was only a matter of time until he’d feel the heat of their magic again. If he could take even one out he’d breath easier. “Just look the other way….”

Gray tightened his grip on his sword waiting for anything to distract the deadly trio. He grabbed a loose pebble below him. Suddenly their eyes were locked on something flying past, giving Gray the chance he’d been hoping for. “Ha!”

The swordsman darted towards the witches, chucking the pebble at the closest one’s head as hard as his arms would let him. A loud  _ crack _ gave him all he had to know about her state before he turned to the next two. The witches held their gaze towards Gray for a moment, before one disappeared, a flurry of fire taking her place. Gray just barely dodged the flaming ball, but his back was quickly hit by an inferno of pain.

The witches had him stuck in the middle, and though Gray was fast enough to deal with some magic, these women were no doubt more experienced in hitting moving targets. Magic crackled from the witch to his right as a wave of heat washed across his back. He’d been in such situations before, but that was just Kliff and Delthea training with him. No intent to kill was present, though the time he stole Delthea’s pudding came rather close. “Come now, little child,” he heard one of the witches hiss before she warped away from his blade. “Father would welcome such a strong man like you.”

Gray smirked and rolled away from the burning magic. “I know I can be quite the looker,” He teased, charging at the closer witch. “But I think tan suits me more than whatever the hell your cantors have!”

Gray lunged, expecting a hard stop from the witch’s abdomen, but he merely scraped her before his sword arm was nearly burnt to a crisp. His momentum was slowly disappearing, and while the witches only had one over him, magic and warping could overwhelm him in seconds. The swordsman looked in the distance for anyone, but his fellow soldiers were fighting their own battles. The glints in the witches’ eyes taunted him. “D-dammit!”

A blurry shadow suddenly loomed across the field, slowly growing more clear. Gray kept his eyes on the enemy, fearing they had just received flying support, but soon enough: “On your knees!”

In a flurry of white feathers, the cavalry had arrived, spearing one of the witches before finally landing beside Gray, “Miscreant! Valentia has no place for those like you!”

With her blessed lance shouldered and head held high, Clair had arrived just in time to save Gray from a heated fate. The lone witch did not flee, however. They never did. Even if they were the enemy, Gray always hoped that just once the Rigelian troops would turn heel and flee, if only to save him the pained sounds of life leaving their bodies. But right now he didn’t have time to worry about such things as Clair darted in front of him, blocking another ball of fire aimed at his head. “The village boy will help the kind lady now!” Clair yelled to him as her lance hit air where the witch once was.

A soft cackle came from behind him. Gray quickly spun, aiming his sword at the witch’s chest. The stained blade gave him all the indication he needed as he raised it up and stabbed the weakened witch. Her and her sisters’ bodies twitched and convulsed before finally disappearing. Gray sheathed his sword and walked to Clair. The noblewoman was busy tending to her pegasus. It was a rare moment to breath now that Gray looked around without the threat of fire near him: Tobin and Kliff were bickering as the latter carefully retrieved arrows, Luthier was chasing after an annoyed Delthea, and Mathilda and Clive were…certainly doing something. “Really saved my skin back there,” the villager said as he attempted idle conversation. He and Clair were at a….rough patch when it came to talking, but Gray had to at least thank her for saving him.

Clair crossed her arms over her chest, an unamused expression on her face. “The lady accepts the village boy’s thanks.”

“Oh c’mon I can’t even say ‘thank you’?” Gray exclaimed. “Sure I knew you wanted me to just stop talking to ya, but I can at least say thanks for saving my life right?”

“You wouldn’t require such things if you had shown more care when fighting!” Clair looked to the horizon. “Cajolery will get us nowhere, Gray, so I implore you to not dilly dally.”

“Stop using words I don’t--” Gray stopped. A piece of metal was glinting in the nearby brush. That meant only meant one thing. “Clair get down!”

His legs leapt before he even had the idea to jump up. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he heard the tell tale whistle of the arrow sailing in the air. One moment he was beside Clair, the next she was laying with him in the dirt. He tried to roll on his back, but a sharp pain in his thigh kept him still. “Gray!”

Gray’s thoughts were hazy. Sure he’d taken many an arrow, but from the magic earlier and natural fatigue, this one was the tipping point for him. “Lune….stop….still….” Clair’s voice cried close by. She sounded so far away. His thoughts grew fuzzier and his senses dulled. Faintly, he could feel someone--he hoped Clair--lifting him up before placing him on a saddle. A loud clang rang in his ears. His shoulder stung while the pauldron he wore vibrated from a second arrow. Gray let out a long groan, nearly falling off of the pegasus. “Wait….”

Pegasus meant flying. Flying meant being somewhere high. Gray considered himself a brave man, but he’d sooner fight Duma with a pitchfork than even go near anywhere high up. Sadly, life had other plans for him. “Hyah!”

With a snap of the reigns, Clair got Lune flying. In his hazy, pain-filled mind, Gray was slow to realize what happened. A quick dodge to the right jolted him awake finally, though part of him wished he’d simply stayed half-conscious. Without thinking, the villager tightly held Clair’s waste, eliciting a surprised noise from the noble flier. “Oh--Gray!” She complained. “Do consider what you’re doing!”

Gray huffed and tried to keep himself calm. “You’re the one who put me, a guy who hates high places, on a  _ pegasus _ !”

Clair leaned forward and snapped the reigns again. She and Lune were like a single unit, every slight motion from Clair translating into a deft dodge by her pegasus. For Gray, however, the erratic movement served to make him panic. Every shot taken at them was met with a cry of panic, and a louder noise of annoyance from Clair. They could stay above, but the enemy was slowly gaining the upper hand

“Left! Left!” Grau screamed into Clair’s ear as a volley of arrows and magic alike flew past Lune’s wings. “Holy Mila how do you  _ do _ this?”

But Clair said nothing. Only now did he notice her intense gaze, like she forgot he was even there. Hell, he’d go as far as guessing she could see the future, dodging arrows before Gray had heard the whistle of their flight. He would have let her go on had he not seen Alm and the army in the distance making a break for it. “Clair? Clair!” Gray shook her arm and pointed ahead to the backs of their friends.

“Hm? Oh no….” The noble woman was at attention again, though  her once confident eyes grew shocked as she followed Gray’s hand. “Quickly, Lune!”

Gray shut his eyes as he nearly fell off the pegasus. ‘Humans were not meant for this!’

Below the duo, Rigel troops clamored, spying the lone pegasus and its riders dashing across the sky. Armor clanged into a symphony that instilled dread in Gray’s heart, and the sight of archers on both sides only amplified such a feeling. “C’mon, Clair! I really do  _ not _ wanna be a human pincushion today!”

“Cease your complaining, Gray! Lune is flying as fast as she can!”

Gray saw the mounted archers stop to draw their bows. “Well if we don’t get to Alm and the others soon, Lune’s gonna get us to Mila pretty damn quick!”

“Fire!”

The arrows that flew were many, and Gray braced himself for the worst, his hold on Clair growing tighter. The sound of Lune’s reigns snapping again met his ears before his world spun round and round. “Woah. Woah!”

Off in the distance amidst the twirling, Gray saw Alm fending off a few stragglers from the group, waving to the evading duo. “C’mon, we’re almost there!”

Clair smirked as the arrows slowed. “Rigel must step up their tactics if they wish to harm any of--”

It was sudden. One moment Gray was smiling with Clair, the next he felt a crackle of energy around them, before everything came crashing down. Lune whinied while Gray and Clair screamed. The forest below gre closer and closer as they spiraled out of control. The last thing Gray saw before blacking out was Alm and the rest of the Deliverance sprinting away.


	2. Pick Up the Pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man I'm bad at multi chapter stuff huh? Well never feear for I will probably have more done before the year's end! (College kinda happened haha...)

When she finally came to Clair felt a sharp pain in her limbs and a warm nudge on her face. “Hm?”

Lune was nudging Clair gently. Despite being just a pegasus, she seemed so anxious, but Clair could see her breathe a sigh of relief. Clair slowly picked herself up from the torn up bush she had passed out in. A small grimace spreads across her face as she dusts off twigs and dirt from her torn, but still secure, clothes. A cautious step forward soon left her wincing in pain. All across her legs are small cuts. Mere flesh wounds may be at most an annoyance, but the chaotic red lines on Clair’s thigh worked together to leave her limping to Lune’s saddle. Sloppy and slow, the blonde pegasus knight rummaged through the pack stropped on Lune’s back. ‘Clive will no doubt worry again,’ Clair mentally berates herself as she pulls a roll of cloth and a small flask of water. She was no cleric but small wounds such as her own were simple enough to aid. ‘The Deliverance will be at a loss with two of its--”

Clair stopped. “Gray!”

The noblewoman picked up her pace from a brisk hobble to a slow limp. Lune kept close, letting Clair have a place to lean on as she tired herself out

“Graaay!” Clair called out. The forest went pitch black at night, and her pained arms and legs did little to keep her focused. A tired hand held Lune’s reins even tighter. The last thing she wanted was to lose her mount behind enemy lines. Every tree looked just like the last as Clair slowly ambled onward, stopping only to examine her bandaged thighs. Suddenly a soft noise brushed her ears, like the distant sound of bugs buzzing.

As fast as her legs would carry her, Clair limped to the source of the noise. Her heart skipped a beat. Sat with his back on a tree and a hand on his pierced arm was Gray. The arrow had broken, but the shaft still stuck out a bit. Wordlessly, Clair rummaged through Lune’s pack again for the roll of bandages and some water. “It is quite the miracle to see we’ve managed to live past that ordeal,” she said as she turned to the injured villager.

Despite the pitch black forest Clair already cringed at the damage: scraped legs--no doubt from the fall--arms with small burns and scorched sleeves, and the ever present broken arrow shaft firmly lodged in his upper arm. Praise Mila he hadn’t been harmed too much.

“Why the… worried look?” Gray asked through a forced smirk. “I’ve… had worse… training with Alm!” Clair saw him try and shuffle before the villager winced. “Yeah… yeah no this sucks.”

Clair shook her head like a disappointed mother. “Would the village boy please cease his movement? Any more and you may do worse to yourself, Gray.” Gray nodded back to her.

The bandage was soon ripped and balled up. Clair had seen what arrows being pulled out would do, and the quieter Gray was the better it would be for both of them. “Put this in your mouth,” she said, handing him the bandage gag. Gray did as he was told while Clair firmly grasped the rod stuck in his arm. “This will hurt, but I ask that you do not scream too loudly. One, two…”

In an instant, Gray’s fist punched the ground as he let out a muffled cry of pain. Clair was quick to use the rest of the bandages she’d brought to wrap his wound, and soon all was quiet again. With the worst of Gray’s wounds tended to, Clair moved to the others. “It’s truly a miracle we were hurt as much as we were.”

“Yeah well,” Gray winced as cold water was poured on his burn wounds. “Guess that shows how great a team we make, eh?”

Clair rolled her eyes. “Perhaps. But do not think you’ve any right to take our ‘team-ship’ any further.”

The villager looked back in confusion. “What does that even--wait you're not still mad about before are you? I said I was sorry! Hell I made sure not to bother you like you asked!”

In response, Clair made sure to keep Gray’s bandages extra tight. “That you have, but I simply do not want you to try for a goal which you may not even see to its end. Look around, Gray. We are behind the enemy’s front lines, beaten, bruised, and without any sign of help coming to us. Such wants and desires will simply do us more harm than good.”

As the last of Gray’s wounds were patched up, Clair grabbed Lune’s reigns and helped lift her villager companion up to his feet. “Now come, we’ve much to do if we wish to see our friends again.”

Gray said nothing as he silently followed beside Clair. They walked onward in the darkness. The road ahead was one full of hardship for them, and though neither of the pair knew it, something would be gained as they journeyed onward.


End file.
